How do I prepare for my first trek?

How do I prepare for my first trek?

My First trekking Experience was always special to me . Dalhousie Trekk (Himachal Pradesh) was my first trek in 2014. If you love nature in its most natural state, if you like to challenge yourself and get out of your comfort zone, if you can survive being technologically handicapped (temporarily), if you are willing to disconnect yourself from the regular mundane life and connect to something ineffable, then trekking is for you. India is a country which is blessed with many trails. Some of them like Sandakphu Trek, Sarpass Trek, Dev Tibba ,Valley of flower, etc., are quite popular trekking destinations in India.

For beginners, it is always advisable to go on a trek with a trekking agency like YHAI. They are well aware of how to lead amateur or beginner-level trekkers and there's always a lot to learn from the professionals.

However, when it comes to trekking, keep the following things in mind -

Acclimatize: One of the most important things that people often neglect while trekking is to acclimatize. Wikipedia tells us that "Acclimatization is a process in which individual organism adjust to gradual change in its environment such as a change in temperature, humidity, or pH, allowing it to maintain performance across a range of environmental conditions.” If you're going from a low altitude to a high altitude, or a high temperature region to a low temperature region, acclimatize. However, it isn't necessary to do it if the highest altitude would be less than 9000 feet.

Warm up: Like for any other physical activity that we do consciously, a human body requires to warm up before trekking. Warm up will help the body wake up it's muscles and avoid any soft tissue injuries. It is something often neglected by rookies, many of whom ended up getting injured during or right after the trek.

Difficulty level - easy: Just like everything else, the first trek should always be easy in terms of difficulty. Jumping straight on to a moderate or higher level may boost your ego, but won't do you any good. Imagine, how difficult it would have been had you been promoted straight to the second standard from kindergarten. You would face problems if you choose a trek that's difficult for beginners. So always go in the standard order - amateur level > intermediate level > professional level.
To move from one level to another, one needs to do tens of treks in the previous level. Remember, every trek will teach you something.

First-aid kit: I cannot stress on the importance of carrying a first-aid kit. You may be absolutely fit on the plains, but in the hills, you won't have access to a doctor (unless there's one in the group). God forbid, if someone in the group falls sick (and that happens quite often), gets hurt, or worse, injured, the first-aid kit would be the best bet at that point in time.

Don't be gama in the land of lama:You may feel that you know a lot about trekking after having done tens of treks and quite some research. But that would be your biggest mistake. No matter how confident you feel, do not try to be over smart. When it comes to trekking, even professional trekkers aren't as good as the people who were born and brought up in the Himalayas. There's a reason why all the sherpas come from the mountainous regions. Remember, it's not a race. Thanks to evolution, their body is suitable to adapt to high altitude regions. It's good to challenge yourself, but do not try to cross your limit. The important thing is to finish. Take your time, and enjoy.

Do not plug-in your earphones: One silly mistake trekkers tend to do is to plug-in their earphones and listen to music. That's a big NO. It would disconnect you from others, and if there's any important thing being said, you may miss it.

Things to carry:

Sunglasses
Sunscreen lotion
Waterproof outdoor shoes
Jacket(s) depending on the weather
Quick-dry socks
Swiss knife
Thermos bottle
dryfroots
Raincoat
Torch
camera
extra battery
etc.